


The Pianist and the Magician

by nerdyscully (dalecooperscoffee)



Category: Arrested Development
Genre: Alternate Universe, Feelings, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pianist!Gob, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 20:59:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18225353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dalecooperscoffee/pseuds/nerdyscully
Summary: Tony Wonder is a struggling magician. One night after a lousy show he stumbles upon a jazz bar where Gob Bluth is playing. They proceed to spend a night together that neither one of them can forget.





	The Pianist and the Magician

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xlessxthanx3x](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xlessxthanx3x/gifts).



> first and foremost HAPPY (slightly early) BIRTHDAY, ALEX!!! i am so glad that i got to know you, and i'm incredibly grateful for all the amazing fics and AUs you've written for this fandom. pianst!gob is, of course, your brainchild, so all the credit goes to you for that, but i knew i wanted to include it in my fic too, since it's your brand. i really hope you like this and that you have an awesome birthday!
> 
> to everyone else, i hope you like this too! i am quite pleased with it (though i think tony is not as full of himself as he should be, lol) and i had a great time writing it, it came very naturally. thank you as always for reading!

Tony’s body sagged with fatigue the moment he got offstage. Another guy brushed past him, bursting onto the stage. It was Magician’s Night at the Gothic Castle, for both experienced and new magicians. Tony had been doing this for about two years, but he had yet to find success or even get a mention in Poof. That particular night, he had given his all out there, and all he got was a smattering of applause. He was tired. His body ached from the cheap, springy mattress he slept on every night, and he was emotionally tired, probably from doing this every week and getting nothing in return.

He thought about grabbing a drink from the bar, but he wanted to get away from the Gothic Castle for the night. He would have to watch the other, more experienced magicians get better responses from the audience, and that was the worst way he could think about spending his night. He wondered ( _ugh_ ) when he had gotten so bitter.

He left the Gothic Castle and walked down the sidewalk, meandering meaninglessly for about five minutes, looking for the best bar he could lose himself in for the night. It was a nicer part of LA, so most of the bars looked fine, but nothing really caught his eye until he happened upon a neon sign that said _Newport Beach Jazz Club and Bar_. ‘Live music!’ the sign proclaimed under the title. Tony had never been in a jazz club before; he was from New York, but he never really cared about music. He was a magician, not a musician. He knew the drinks were going to be way too expensive, but he walked in anyway.

He knew this club was _sophisticated_ from the moment he walked in. People weren’t yelling over the music; they were chatting softly, sipping their overpriced drinks in fashionable outfits and immaculate makeup. On the stage was the pianist and the pianist alone; there was no band or anything. A warm blue light shone on him, making it hard to distinguish his facial features. Tony could tell he was tall, though, and young. He wasn’t playing anything particularly jazzy, instead it was a classical piece, though more upbeat from the normal, slow-as-a-snail classical pieces Tony usually heard. He sat down at the bar and ordered a drink, and from then on, his eyes never left the stage.

The pianist was mesmerizing; his fingers flew across the keys, elegantly stretching out to hit each note. _With hands like that, he could be a magician_ , Tony thought. His body was straight and tall, yet he seemed to feel each note, like the music simply flowed through his arm and played itself on the piano. His face, though hard to make out exactly, was expressive and focused at the same time. Tony had never seen anyone lose themselves in their craft like that and produce something so incredible. Before he knew it, twenty minutes had past, and the pianist stood up and bowed. “Aww,” Tony said under his breath; it couldn’t be already over?

“I’ll be back for a second set in twenty minutes,” the pianist said, and the audience clapped appreciatively, Tony included. He tore his eyes away from the stage for the first time, taking a few more sips of his old-fashioned. After a few minutes, he felt a presence next to him, and heard a gravelly voice ask for whiskey on the rocks.

 _Who drinks whiskey on the rocks?_ Tony asked himself, looking over to see who the douche was. He nearly dropped his glass when he saw it was the pianist. “Oh, hey,” he said. “You did great up there.”

The pianist smiled; it was easier to see his face now, his light eyes that almost looked reflective under the soft lighting, the freckles that dotted over his nose and forehead, his long lashes, and his strong jawline. To be honest, he was a bit breathtaking. “Thank you,” he said. “I’m glad you liked it.”

Tony had known he liked guys since he was a teenager. He hadn’t met a guy that made his breath stop like this in a long time. “I walked in a little late, so I didn’t catch your name,” Tony was worried that chatting him up like this would be futile, but he figured he needed a distraction.

“Oh, I’m, uh, Gob,” he said. “Gob Bluth.”

Tony had heard of the Bluth family ever since he moved to the OC; they were always popping up in the news for some scandal or other. But he usually heard about George Bluth, not any of his kids. He wondered ( _ugh again_ ) if it would be an asshole thing to ask if that was his dad, but he decided to avoid it for the time. “I’m Tony. Tony…Wonder,” he even added his ‘W’ hand motion out of habit, and he instantly kicked himself for it.

Gob chuckled, low and deep in a way that made Tony’s stomach flip. “I like it. I’ve never met anyone with the last name Wonder before.”

“I’m a…a magician,” he said. “Just had a gig, y’know.”

Gob’s eyes lit up in a way Tony had never seen anyone’s light up when he mentioned magic. “That’s so cool! I did magic as a kid, but I kinda had to give it up when I went to college. It was good to pull out at parties, though.”

Tony grinned. “I mean, what you did up there was kind of like magic.” As disgustingly flirty as it was, he noticed how Gob smiled and looked into his drink, like the compliment had really affected him. Maybe Gob liked guys too? Then again, he probably had a girlfriend. What girl wouldn’t scoop up a guy like that?”

“Well, it is what they’re paying me for, I guess,” he laughed. “I’m glad people are liking it. I don’t play jazz, but they offered me a gig and said I could play what I want.”

 _He must be doing pretty well for himself_ , Tony thought, and felt lame, suddenly. “So, what are you gonna play for the next set? Are you gonna save the best for last?”

Gob shrugged. “The second set is never as good as the first. I always say _I_ wouldn’t stay for the second set if I wasn’t playing it.”

He raised an eyebrow; that seemed like weird logic, but he didn’t question it. “I’ll stay. I don’t have anywhere else to be.”

They talked for a little while longer about Gob’s time studying in college before he had to go back on. Despite what Gob said, the second set was just as good as the first. For his final piece, he played a piano arrangement of “The Final Countdown”, which made the audience laugh and cheer. It was the perfect finale, and it allowed Gob to ham it up a little for the audience. He _did_ seem like the magician type.

Gob met up with Tony at the bar again right after his set finished. “Hey. What are you doing now?” he asked.

“Oh, I was just thinking I’d…go home.”

His face fell. “Ah, yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

“But…did you have something in mind?”

“I know we just met and everything, but do you wanna get something to eat? Bar-hop a little?”

Tony hadn’t made many friends since moving to California. He had acquaintances that he talked to at the Gothic Castle, but he still felt lost most of the time. It was a big difference from his days in New York. He wasn’t “popular” by any means, but he had a group of friends, he had his siblings, he had people he felt confident around. He didn’t feel lost around Gob, or like he would struggle to find things to talk about. He did wonder if this was a weird, subtle way of being asked on a date, but then he decided Gob wasn’t really a subtle person. “Sure. Like I said, I don’t have anywhere else to be.”

“Let’s grab the bus and go to Skip Church’s. I’m starving, and they’re open all night.”

Tony didn’t know what Skip Church’s was, but Gob was grabbing his hand (!!!) and pulling him through the crowd of the club, so he guessed he was going there.

The bus took them to the beach, where Skip Church’s sign was illuminated and beckoning them in. They were the only ones there, and Tony felt a little bad for the waitress, who looked exhausted as she took their orders. Gob ordered a coffee nudge and something called a “Skip’s Scramble”, which Tony was frankly scared of, so he settled for normal coffee and a club sandwich. “You drank like, two whiskeys at the bar,” he said, “Are you planning to get drunk?”

Gob shook his head. “No. Three drinks is nothing. I’d have to drink like, _ten_ whiskeys to get drunk.”

“Your alcohol tolerance is _really_ that high,” Tony said, unbelieving.

“Not as high as my mom’s. She drinks vodka martinis like they’re water.”

“God, I can’t imagine.”

“It’s normal for me,” he shrugged. “Drinking games were always, like, a joke to me in college.”

“What about now?”

“Oh, I still drink, I just…can’t be playing piano tipsy. I mean, can you imagine?” He laughed. “That would be hilarious, actually.”

“You must go to parties though.”

“To play, yeah. I hate rich people parties, though. I had to go to them all the time, and they’re so goddamn boring. All anyone does is talk about, like, the stock market or some shit, and laugh at jokes that aren’t funny. At least when I’m the pianist I don’t have to really talk to anyone, and they usually give me the horse deserves.”

“They give you the _what_?”

“The horse deserves? The things on the platters? Like the crackers and cheese and shit?”

“Hors d’oeuvres?”

“Whatever, I don’t speak French.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Anyway, what I meant is, you’re young, you’re…an attractive guy, I’m sure you go out, you have girlfriends, stuff like that.”

“I guess. It sounds really lame, but I’m practicing most of the time.”

“Not lame. I guess I just saw you as more of…a party guy.”

“Oh, it’s not like I’m some _virgin_ ,” he clarified. “Trust me, I’ve had plenty of sex.”

He wasn’t sure if Gob was trying to overcompensate, but he didn’t want to press it. “I’m glad, then.”

“What about you? Trust me, I know girls love magicians,” he said without a hint of sarcasm. Tony could not say he had the same experience.

“Oh, no, I’m…” he figured he might as well say it, if Gob was weirded out, he could just leave, and Tony would consider it good while it lasted. It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened. “I’m gay.”

Gob’s eyebrows went up, but his face didn’t seem disgusted or freaked out at all. “Why don’t you live in San Fran, then?”

Tony laughed. “It’s so expensive, I could barely afford a cardboard box there.”

“I just figured, since, you know…”

“Castro and all, yeah.” They were interrupted by the waitress handing them their food, which Gob instantly started devouring. “I figured California was an overall gay-friendly state, so I just chose the place that was best for me.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool around here. I know lots of guys who are.”

“So you don’t, um—you’re not scared of hanging out with gay guys?”

Gob smirked. “No. I mean, you go to parties and all and it gets crazy and suddenly you’re in bed with a guy, it happens all the time. I’m not a prude.”

“…I don’t know if that’s as common as you think it is, but I’m glad you’re open-minded. So you’ve…been in bed with both then.” He felt weird discussing this during their first night as friends, but Gob seemed to be an open book, and Tony was fairly certain it wasn’t the alcohol. Maybe they both needed to talk about these things, instead of the boring small talk they were used to.

“Sure, sometimes both at the same time!”

“And you didn’t mind it?”

“Not at all. I guess you would know, guys are good kissers.”

Tony chuckled. “I’ve thought about it once or twice, yeah. Are you bi, then?”

“Hm?”

“Bi? You like both?”

“That’s…that’s a thing?” Gob looked confused. “I thought you were saying goodbye.”

 _He got into college…?_ Tony wondered, but he figured it wasn’t as widely used of a word; most people just knew gay and straight. Despite being from a gay-friendly state, Gob was from a conservative, closed-off family. “Bisexual means you like girls and guys.”

“Oh. I mean. Maybe?” Gob’s brows knitted together.

“Have I given you a lot to think about? Sorry.”

“Sorta. But…don’t say sorry. I didn’t ever think about it. I just did what I want.” Like a rich kid would, of course. “I’ve dated girls and stuff, but it gets so…boring after a while, you know? I don’t see why everyone gets so excited about relationships.”

“I felt that way before I knew I was gay,” Tony said. “Like it was boring and not as fun as it seemed.”

Gob chewed thoughtfully. “You don’t have a boyfriend, then?”

“Nah. Magicians aren’t that big in the gay community, weirdly.”

“I always thought Criss Angel was gay.”

Tony snorted. “There’s a difference between emo and gay.”

“Can’t you be both?” Gob asked, gulping down the rest of his coffee nudge. “Or am I mixing up labels?”

“Sure, you can be both,” he replied, “But I think Criss Angel is just emo. Not gay.”

Gob gasped like he had just thought of something ingenious. Tony’s instant thought was that it was cute. “You could make that into your brand. The gay magician! It would be amazing, since there isn’t one. It would be groundbreaking in magic. Like, what’s your brand now?”

Tony shrugged. “I don’t have much of one. I’m just…Tony Wonder. I do a lot of tricks with bread.”

“You can still do bread stuff! But you can, like, talk about coming out in your act and stuff. Are people in magic homophobic? Is that a thing there?”

Tony shrugged. “I haven’t experienced it. I’m not really out to anyone in California…besides you,” he had never talked about this sort of thing so suddenly. It took until he graduated to tell his high school friends that he was gay. He didn’t tell his parents until he moved to California, because he wanted to be safe financially. His parents were a little offended that he opted to tell them about it over the phone, and that he assumed they wouldn’t support him. But other than that, they took it well, and his mom said even though he was gay, she hoped he would still give her a few grandchildren.

“I feel special,” Gob smiled.

“It’s because you’re a musician. Sensitive.”

Gob frowned. “Sensitive isn’t really a good thing to be.”

“To some people.”

“In my family…well, you should hear what they say to me.” Gob had long been finished with his scramble, and Tony was just about done with his meal as well. “Hey, you wanna go…out to the beach?”

“Isn’t it kind of cold?”

“We don’t have to jump in the water or anything,” he said, then looked away. “Sorry, it was kind of a lame idea. Kind of a pussy thing to do. What are we gonna do, look at the stars?” He laughed humorlessly.

“I’d actually like to,” Tony said. “If you weren’t joking.” And he knew Gob wasn’t.

Gob put some crumpled money on the table, telling Tony it was on him this time, and grabbed his hand again as he led him to the beach. It was, as Tony expected, pretty cold despite it being May. He crossed his arms in front of him in an attempt to warm himself up, but all he was wearing was a thin button-up and skinny jeans. “Want my jacket?” Gob asked.

Tony blushed. What were they, a high school couple at a football game? “I-I don’t want you to get cold.”

“Eh, I’ll be okay. I’m used to this kind of weather. Hey, aren’t you from another state? A colder one?”

“Yeah…I guess I’m getting too used to the warm California weather,” he chuckled sheepishly, but took Gob’s blazer when he handed it to him. He slipped it on, and it was definitely too big; the sleeves went over his hands, and he looked like a kid playing with his dad’s clothes. But it smelled like soft, musky cologne and it was warm. Tony _did_ kind of feel like a high schooler by the way his stomach fluttered at Gob’s scent.

Gob suggested they sit on the pier, and Tony shrugged and agreed. He had been to the beach when he first moved to California, but not since then. He didn’t see the point of going to the beach alone, and he thought it would make him look stupid. He found himself liking it now, with the waves calmly ebbing and flowing and the moon’s reflection in the glassy water. “It’s pretty,” he said softly.

“Yeah, it is. I used to come out to the beach all the time with girlfriends. Girls like to watch the stars.”

Tony chuckled. “That’s a human thing, not a girl thing. Anyway, are you trying to impress me, like one of your girlfriends?”

“I dunno. Maybe? Are you impressed?”

“I’ve been impressed since I saw you play,” he said, looking Gob in the eyes despite his nerves making him want to pull them away. “I think it would be pretty hard to let me down at this point.”

Gob smiled. “Wanna hear something weird?”

“Sure.”

“I really want to kiss you.”

Tony didn’t reply, he just put his lips on Gob’s. He had known as soon as they sat on the pier that something was going to happen that night, and he had certainly been _hoping_ for it since their first encounter. Gob’s hands found their way around Tony’s waist, and Tony melted. When they pulled away (much too soon), Gob was laughing, and Tony tensed. Did he think that he was a bad kisser? Did them kissing convince Gob he was 100 percent straight? “Sorry,” Gob breathed out, “Your beard, it tickles.”

“O-oh, sorry,” Tony touched his beard, self-conscious.

“No, no. I like it,” Gob pulled him in again, and Tony felt the tension unravel. The kiss was deeper this time; his arms wrapped around Gob’s neck, getting as close as he could to him. He thanked God no one was looking, but also appreciated how romantic it was to kiss someone so handsome under the moon. They stayed like that, on the pier, wrapped up in each other, for some time.

They eventually _had_ to get going; it was reaching the wee hours of the morning. “I live in the other direction,” Gob said, “So is this, um…goodbye?”

“I mean, if you want it to be. But I had fun. Lots of fun. Thanks, Gob.”

“Listen, no pressure, but if you want, I’m performing at this hotel the day after tomorrow. Or, wait, it’s midnight, I guess the performance is tomorrow. If you want to come…”

Tony nodded. Gob gave him the address, and said again, “No pressure. I get if you’re busy. I had fun, too. I’m…glad we…met.”

The tone of Gob’s voice made Tony suspect that he didn’t normally talk about things like this, nonetheless with guys. “I’m glad, too, Gob. Have a good night.” He gave Gob a kiss on the cheek, chaste compared to what they were just doing, and they were both on their way.

* * *

The next day, Gob was playing at a hotel’s restaurant (to make the atmosphere more _fancy_ , he guessed) while its patrons ate. He was thinking, still, about the feel of Tony’s beard against his face, his lips against his own. He couldn’t stop thinking about how good it felt, better than any kiss he had ever experienced. He figured he wouldn’t see Tony again. He was busy, probably, and maybe Gob had turned him off with his confusion about his sexuality. He didn’t know why he was so upset; one night stands were a common thing with him.

But him and Tony didn’t have sex. They just kissed, and talked, and looked at the stars. If it were anyone else, Gob would’ve found it boring and stupid. And yet he couldn’t stop fucking thinking about Tony. Everything about Tony.

He looked up when he finished with his piece, seeing the audience applaud politely. He flipped through his repertoire for another one, but became distracted when he saw someone approaching the doorway. He started playing, not looking at the music; his eyes were locked on Tony, who was walking towards him and smiling warmly.

No one had ever smiled at Gob like that before. No one had ever come back for him before.

He smiled back.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i know i still have the skating fic to finish (and it will be eventually, i promise), but i really hope you enjoyed reading this! happy bday again, alex! xoxoxo


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